Swinging-door attachment.



J. H. WHITAKER.

SWINGINE 000B ATTACHMENT.

(Application filed Jan. 9, 189 9.)

r No Model.) i

No. 629,283. Patented My I8, :99.

WITNESSES A TTOHNEYS.

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with my improved Opening device attached UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE.

JOHN H. WHITAKER, OF DAVENPORT, IOlVA.

swmoiNo-oooR ATTACHM ENT.

srEcImcA'rIou forming part of Letters Patent No. 629,283, sates July18,1899.

Application filed January 9 1899. $erial No. 'YQLSQG. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN H. WHITAKER, of Davenport, in the county ofScott and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement inSwinging-D oor Attachments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to attachments for swinging doors, especially whenthey are used in hotels, restaurants, dining-rooms, and the like, wheredifficulty is experienced by the waiter passing from one room to theother with both hands employed in holding a tray of dishes. The waitershave heretofore generally been accustomed to kick the door open whenthey come to it, with the result that their equilibrium has often beenovercome and the contents of the tray spilled, which result has oftenbeen aggravated by the return swing of the door before they had passedcompletely through the same. 7

It is the object of myinvention to overcome these existing difficultiesin an easy, cheap, and simple manner; and with this end in view myinvention consists in attaching rotatable devices to the door, on one orboth sides of the same, which will enable the waiters to open the doorwith their body, shoulders, or hips without jar or danger of spillingthe contents of the trays'which they may happen to be carrying.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which- 7 Figure 1 is a face view of a swingingdoor thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 isa plan view, the door being shown pushed open in dotted lines. Figs. 4and 5 are plan views of doors with modified forms of my device attachedthereto; and Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the device. shown in Fig.1, the spindle of the wheel being extended to receive a knob.

The swinging door A is, as shown, mounted on hinges B to swing in bothdirections be- 7 tweenthe partition, walls, or the like 0.

To one or both sides of the door A, depend-.

door is to be ing largely upon whether the opened from one or bothsides, is-secured in any suitable manner an outwardly-projecting bracketD, in whose outer end is mounted the vertical spindle E. A wheel F ismounted to 'nected by a belt H.

rotate on-this verticalspindle E, and. th

wheel F' is preferably formed with apadding.

G on its periphery, of soft felt, rubber, or the vlike,'or the saidpadding may be pneumatic.

As shown, Iypreferably secure the bracket'to a door at such a point thatthe wheel will be located a distance from the floor equal to that of thehuman leg of ordinary length, so that the hip may be used against thewheel; but it is evident that it may be located so as to be operated bya shoulder, the location of the wheel depending upon the disposition ofthe panels in the door or the personal convenience of those using it.Now it will be seenthat the wheel F projects from the side of the door aconsiderable distance, so that when one places a hip or shoulder againstthe wheel to open the door and the door is pressed open to the positionshown in dotted lines in Fig. 8 the free edge of the door will be quitea distance away, as shown by the line co m in such vfigure, doorswinging back against the waiter before and there willbe no danger ofthe the latter has completely passed through, hence obviating thedifficulties mentioned above.

By making the padding of the wheel of'soft felt or by making'itpneumatic the device is rendered pleasant to operate and very light andsoft.

Figs. 4, 5, and 6 represent cross-sectional views of the door and planviews of several modifications of the attachment. Referring to Fig. i,it will be seen that two brackets Af A and wheels F F are employedinstead of one, as described above, the advantage of such latterarrangement being that a pocket is formed between the wheels to receivethat part of the body used to open the door, and

hence there is no danger of slipping on a -highly-polished floor whenpressing somewhat at a tangent against an easily-rotatable wheel. InFig. 5 I have shown the two wheels F con- As shown in Fig. 6, thespindle E of the wheel may be extended to receive a knob E, which restsloosely thereon and may be employed to push the door open by hand.- whenthe hands are not otherwise occupied.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An attachment'for swinging doors consisting of a bracket secured tothe side of the door at the height of a persons hip or shoulder and awheel mounted to turn about a vertical axis on said bracket, as and forthe purpose set forth.

2. An attachment for swinging doors, consisting of a Wheel mounted torotate upon a vertical axis on a bracket on a side of the door, theperiphery of the said wheel extending a considerable distance beyond theside of the doors, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. An attachment for swinging doors, consisting of a bracket secured toand extending outwardly from a side of the door and a padded wheelmounted to rotate about its vertical axis on the outer end of saidbracket,

said wheel being arranged for engagement ea'aasci forth.

JOHN H. WHITAKER. WVitnesses:

TIMOTHY A. MURPHY, I. C. ANDERSON.

